NORTHERN Ireland people are paying nearly £80 million a year in excess tax, according to a report published last week by the Independent Financial Adviser Promotion (IFAP), a professional body which represents around 15,000 financial advisers throughout, Britain.

But although the North's million or so taxpayers pay the Inland Revenue an average of around £76 a year each over and above what is necessary, this is still the lowest figure for any region of Britain, where 30 million people waste an average of £180 a year, a total gift to the taxman, according to IFAP, of £5.5 billion.